The last time we got really and truly excited about a network drama, we got burned by Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, and yet despite that, and despite the fact that Battle Creek will air on the networkiest network of them all, CBS, I’m still stupidly allowing myself to get excited about it because of one name: Vince Gilligan.

Granted, yes: Gilligan only created the show and wrote the pilot (and, in fact, Gilligan created it before Breaking Bad, and CBS passed, only to pick it up after the massive success of the AMC series). Gilligan will still serve as executive producer, while David Shore (House) will be its showrunner. But Bryan Singer (Usual Suspects, X-Men) also directed the pilot (it was Singer who tweeted out the above photo), and the cast is good, Fergie’s husband notwithstanding. That’s a mustachioed Kal Penn on the left, then 30 Rock’s Dean Winters, Josh Duhamel, showrunner David Shore, and Singer himself.

The drama centers on Winters’ Russ, a detective, and Milton (Duhamel), an FBI agent — two men with very different worldviews who are teamed up. Together, they must answer the question: Is cynicism, guile and deception enough to clean up the semi-mean streets of Battle Creek, Mich., in the face of a complete lack of resources? Or is the exact opposite — it takes naivete, trust and a boatload of resources — actually true?

Filming has wrapped on the pilot, and CBS has already picked up the series for 13 episodes, which are expected to run in the fall.

I grew up in Battle Creek, MI, and I just can’t fathom why this show is happening. “Semi-mean streets”? okaaaayyy, if you say so. Plenty of potholes. I’ll watch the pilot, but I’m not holding out much hope that the series will be good, or last. I guess, since it’s on CBS, maybe, but still, that means I have to watch CBS. Yuck.